God & Savior

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
John 3:36
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Study notes

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever rejects the Son will not see life, and God's wrath remains on him.

Explanation

The chapter ends with the same two paths as verse 18. Believing in the Son means having eternal life now. The opposite of believing is described as rejecting, or refusing to obey, the Son. That person "will not see life".

Theology

Faith and obedience belong together in John: refusing to believe is also refusing to obey (compare 3:19-20).

Original language
  • πιστεύων (pisteuōn): to trust (in)
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G4100 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Believing.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:36, word 2

  • ἔχει (echei): to have/be
    Greek · Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · Strong's G2192 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Has: present tense, eternal life is a present possession.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:36, word 6

  • ἀπειθῶν (apeithōn): to disobey
    Greek · Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G0544 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Not obeying, or refusing to believe.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:36, word 11

  • ὀργὴ (orgē): wrath
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G3709 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Wrath: God's settled opposition to sin.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:36, word 19

  • μένει (menei): to stay
    Greek · Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · Strong's G3306 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Remains or abides.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, John 3:36, word 22

Cross-references
  • John 3:18 · Surrounding passage

    The same two outcomes earlier in the chapter.

  • John 5:24 · Same theme

    Whoever believes has eternal life and has passed from death to life.

  • 1 John 5:12 · Same theme

    Whoever has the Son has life.

Connected events
  • John the Baptist's last testimony about Jesus
    This verse is part of it

    This verse is part of John's testimony.

    John 3:22-36

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον· ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.

  1. ὁho“The [one]”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  2. πιστεύωνpisteuōn“believing”
    Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · from πιστεύω · “to trust (in)” · Strong's G4100
  3. εἰςeis“in”
    Preposition · “toward” · Strong's G1519
  4. τὸνton“the”
    Article, accusative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  5. υἱὸνhuion“Son”
    Noun, accusative, singular, masculine · from υἱός · “son” · Strong's G5207
  6. ἔχειechei“has”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔχω · “to have/be” · Strong's G2192
  7. ζωὴνzōēn“life”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from ζωή · “life” · Strong's G2222
  8. αἰώνιον·aiōnion“eternal;”
    Adjective, accusative, singular, feminine · from αἰώνιος · “eternal” · Strong's G0166
  9. ὁho“the [one]”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  10. δὲde“however”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  11. ἀπειθῶνapeithōn“not obeying”
    Verb, present, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · from ἀπειθέω · “to disobey” · Strong's G0544
  12. τῷtō“the”
    Article, dative, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  13. υἱῷhuiō“Son”
    Noun, dative, singular, masculine · from υἱός · “son” · Strong's G5207
  14. οὐκouk“not”
    Particle, negative · from οὐ · “no” · Strong's G3756
  15. ὄψεταιopsetai“will behold”
    Verb, future, middle (deponent), indicative, 3rd person singular · from ὁράω · “to see” · Strong's G3700G
  16. ζωήν,zōēn“life,”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from ζωή · “life” · Strong's G2222
  17. ἀλλ᾽all᾽“but”
    Conjunction · from ἀλλά · “but” · Strong's G0235
  18. ἡhē“the”
    Article, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  19. ὀργὴorgē“wrath”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὀργή · “wrath” · Strong's G3709
  20. τοῦtou“<the>”
    Article, genitive, singular, masculine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  21. θεοῦtheou“of God”
    Noun, genitive, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  22. μένειmenei“abides”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from μένω · “to stay” · Strong's G3306
  23. ἐπ᾽ep᾽“on”
    Preposition · from ἐπί · “upon/to/against” · Strong's G1909
  24. αὐτόν.auton“him.”
    Personal pronoun, accusative, singular, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)